Yesterday I attended a training workshop on Telemarketing. I went along to this because I do quite a bit of telemarketing for various clients, so I thought it would be prudent to hone my skills, and learn some new techniques.

What a fantastic day! It was really interesting to see people walking into this workshop with quite negative feelings about telemarketing, and walking out 3 hours later eager to pick up the phone and canvas for new clients.

It was also really interesting to see different perspectives that people have with regards to telemarketing, as there are a lot of stereotypical attitudes towards it. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the 7pm cold calls right during dinner just as much as the next person, and find them a real invasion of my privacy and life, however B2B telemarketing is a little different. It is a very strong, powerful and legitimate business tool, which, if done correctly, can result in vastly increased sales / clients. And it doesn’t cost the earth! After Word of Mouth, telemarketing is probably the cheapest way of getting your message out there. And you get an immediate, measurable response. Sounds great, doesn’t it? So why do so many people hate it so much?

Personally, I quite like telemarketing. Like everything else, there are good days and bad days, but I love to have a chat, so being on the phone talking to people doesn’t phase me too much. And because I’m telemarketing on behalf of other clients, I don’t take it personally when I get rejections, as it’s not my heart & soul that’s gone into the product or service I’m trying to sell, it’s someone else’s, so I can maintain a professional distance and attitude.

It is a very intimidating thing for some people to do though. You are putting yourself out there to total strangers, allowing them to judge your products or services, and exposing yourself to rejection, which many people take personally. As human beings, we crave acceptance – it’s natural. So setting yourself up for rejection is not something that many people like doing. It affects our self esteem, and our self worth. Which is why we find it so hard to keep picking up that phone after multiple rejections.

Telemarketing isn’t for everyone. It takes a certain kind of person to be a successful telemarketer; someone with bucket loads of personality and a good sense of humour, as well as the ability to not take the rejections personally. After all, why should I care what a total stranger thinks of me. It’s not like I’m going to be dealing with them again. So I’ll end the call with a smile, a thank you, and move on to the next one.

If you can see how your business could benefit from telemarketing, but you just don’t have the drive or the time to pick up the phone and make that first call to a potential client, pick up the phone instead and call ME instead!